I agree. I can just see the DOJ smacking themselves in the head after breaking up giant company like M$ into smaller, but still huge, Baby Bills and finding out that it didn't do crap.
I for one am making a move towards the Linux OS but I have never been anti-M$. Maybe a little bewildered at some of the things they have done. But I am moving over because I personally like the challenge of trying to figure out a new system.
Another point I would like to make is, even if M$ somehow manages to loose it's desktop dominance, just what do you plan on having take it's place. It isn't going to be any Linux Distributions. Why? No other OS's, besides the MacOS, are as easy to use and get around in. Face it, LINUX is a real PAIN-IN-THE-ASS to setup. Until this changes dramatically I don't think any Linux distibution will make it on the desktop.
Companies will still continue to use Microsoft products and will most likely upgrade to the next Microsoft product because there is such a large underlying base of users who use anything Microsoft.
Hey, one positive to a break up would be for investors. If they break it up dump all of you cash in the new Baby Bills. It will make you a millionaire. I can almost guarentee it!!!
I have started to get really annoyed these past few weeks about a lot of crap that these big companies are trying to pull lately. The MPAA, Mattel, etc. I know they are trying to protect there investments into their products and services but there is a line where they have to draw the line.
Take what Mattel did with the Cyber Patrol program. MPAA and the DeCSS program, and now this.
This sort of stuff is going to happen. The big problem is that the (crappy) laws that we have now days overlap each other. Each side trying to show that there side is the correct side. The Digital Millenium Copy Right Act is a really good example. It prevents people from doing what they have traditionaly been entitled to do by law.
Besides, I've noticed that a lot of this stuff is comming from overseas in Sweden and the likes. DeCSS, cp4hack, I think both originated in Sweden? Do the US's laws apply over there? I don't think so.
Since I really don't know anything about laws, and it probably shows, go ahead and take it how you will. But I think that most people will agree with me in saying that these big corps to take things, for the most part, a little to far. They think they can throw a little money at the problem and fix what they screwed up.
In the long run new tech will eventually come out that will allow us to copy a DVD just like you can copy a VHS. It's going to happen and there is nothing they can do to stop it. (I personally never understood the region codes, maybe someone could explain it to me. But, if I buy a DVD should I not be able to play it where ever I want?)
Granted the software does circumvent the security features of the Cyber Patrol software. It's not the fact that it does this. It's the fact that yet another company decided to implement sub-par security for an application that would be used quite heavily. Just a rehash of the DVD stuff. IMO, if a company screws up, should they be able to break a law to do it. (See earlier post - Trade Descriptions Act 1968) I'm sure Mattel didn't tell there users that they were doing this. Unless there is some BS in the user license or something similar that takes this kind of crap into account I don't think this should be able to be legaly stopped. There is no law that says I cannot voice my complaints about a company or make a website to house these complaints. Take aolsucks.com for example.
Censorship... I hate. But, on a more serious note. I think the Cyber Patrol concept as whole is a great idea if used and not abuse by the users and creators. Right now the creators are abusing it BIG TIME. I can understand blocking the porn, and well... I can only understand the porn, and maybe a few other exceptions. I think it's perfectly alright for Mattel to block sites with defamatory information or the cp4hack.exe program. But, it SHOULD NOT be done without the users knowledge of it. That is censorship in its ugliest of forms. If they want to do it correctly, they should add a check box that allows the user to choose to block those types of sites. Yet another big company that didn't splash enough cash in the security department and is having it come back to haunt them.
I'll be really interested in what everyone has to say about the different keyboards because that will be the next chunk of equipment that I plan on changing. But for starters I changed my mouse to a Logitech mouseball one. It was a pain in the arse to get used to but now I after working with it for a while I wonder how I ever got along without it before.
Anyways, have to go because my wrists are starting to hurt. 2 posts is about all I can take on that old standard keyboard. Ouch.
I have had my share of bad luck with just about every single Real product I've gotten my hands on. For starters, their Real Player is the biggest little program I think I've seen in the recent past. It has to much junk bundled with it, it ridiculous. I have had problem with the Real Producer to. I was going to setup up streaming television over the LAN in my house. But Real Producer kept rebooting my system. The Real Server wasn't much better, but that actuall worked with some decency. I've tried to migrate away from most products by them.
Despite the fact that the post will most likely be modded down I do have to say that I got a kick out of that one. I can say that this is one tune that I won't mind having stuck in my head for a while. I did find the article interesting. Although, I find some things about a little irritating. I guess it may be the difference between a wannabe geek and real geek in writing and interpretation of what a true geek is.
Yeah, I would have to agree on Halflife. I'll have to check out the Counter-Strike mod. Or maybe try to play Halflife on a level other than the easiest one. What can I say I suck at games.
I remember seeing something about nano tech on Disc or TLC a while back. The showed how they can line up atoms and stuff, really interesting. The even showed a working model of some gears turning where each cog on the gears were made up of a bunch of atoms of whatever stuff. Really cool.
I don't neccessarily think of this merger as a bad thing, yet. We'll have to see. I read through tons of these comments and mostly every one talks about it in terms of what AOL is now going to. What I'm waiting to here is what is TimeWarner going to do. They are obviously in it to gain something also. I see it as now TimeWarner now has a bigger portal to the interenet populous. Don't forget the other side of the fact. YZ
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I agree. I can just see the DOJ smacking themselves in the head after breaking up giant company like M$ into smaller, but still huge, Baby Bills and finding out that it didn't do crap.
I for one am making a move towards the Linux OS but I have never been anti-M$. Maybe a little bewildered at some of the things they have done. But I am moving over because I personally like the challenge of trying to figure out a new system.
Another point I would like to make is, even if M$ somehow manages to loose it's desktop dominance, just what do you plan on having take it's place. It isn't going to be any Linux Distributions. Why? No other OS's, besides the MacOS, are as easy to use and get around in. Face it, LINUX is a real PAIN-IN-THE-ASS to setup. Until this changes dramatically I don't think any Linux distibution will make it on the desktop.
Companies will still continue to use Microsoft products and will most likely upgrade to the next Microsoft product because there is such a large underlying base of users who use anything Microsoft.
Hey, one positive to a break up would be for investors. If they break it up dump all of you cash in the new Baby Bills. It will make you a millionaire. I can almost guarentee it!!!
Take what Mattel did with the Cyber Patrol program. MPAA and the DeCSS program, and now this.
This sort of stuff is going to happen. The big problem is that the (crappy) laws that we have now days overlap each other. Each side trying to show that there side is the correct side. The Digital Millenium Copy Right Act is a really good example. It prevents people from doing what they have traditionaly been entitled to do by law.
Besides, I've noticed that a lot of this stuff is comming from overseas in Sweden and the likes. DeCSS, cp4hack, I think both originated in Sweden? Do the US's laws apply over there? I don't think so.
Since I really don't know anything about laws, and it probably shows, go ahead and take it how you will. But I think that most people will agree with me in saying that these big corps to take things, for the most part, a little to far. They think they can throw a little money at the problem and fix what they screwed up.
In the long run new tech will eventually come out that will allow us to copy a DVD just like you can copy a VHS. It's going to happen and there is nothing they can do to stop it. (I personally never understood the region codes, maybe someone could explain it to me. But, if I buy a DVD should I not be able to play it where ever I want?)
Granted the software does circumvent the security features of the Cyber Patrol software. It's not the fact that it does this. It's the fact that yet another company decided to implement sub-par security for an application that would be used quite heavily. Just a rehash of the DVD stuff. IMO, if a company screws up, should they be able to break a law to do it. (See earlier post - Trade Descriptions Act 1968) I'm sure Mattel didn't tell there users that they were doing this. Unless there is some BS in the user license or something similar that takes this kind of crap into account I don't think this should be able to be legaly stopped. There is no law that says I cannot voice my complaints about a company or make a website to house these complaints. Take aolsucks.com for example.
Censorship... I hate. But, on a more serious note. I think the Cyber Patrol concept as whole is a great idea if used and not abuse by the users and creators. Right now the creators are abusing it BIG TIME. I can understand blocking the porn, and well... I can only understand the porn, and maybe a few other exceptions. I think it's perfectly alright for Mattel to block sites with defamatory information or the cp4hack.exe program. But, it SHOULD NOT be done without the users knowledge of it. That is censorship in its ugliest of forms. If they want to do it correctly, they should add a check box that allows the user to choose to block those types of sites. Yet another big company that didn't splash enough cash in the security department and is having it come back to haunt them.
I'll be really interested in what everyone has to say about the different keyboards because that will be the next chunk of equipment that I plan on changing. But for starters I changed my mouse to a Logitech mouseball one. It was a pain in the arse to get used to but now I after working with it for a while I wonder how I ever got along without it before.
Anyways, have to go because my wrists are starting to hurt. 2 posts is about all I can take on that old standard keyboard. Ouch.
I have had my share of bad luck with just about every single Real product I've gotten my hands on. For starters, their Real Player is the biggest little program I think I've seen in the recent past. It has to much junk bundled with it, it ridiculous. I have had problem with the Real Producer to. I was going to setup up streaming television over the LAN in my house. But Real Producer kept rebooting my system. The Real Server wasn't much better, but that actuall worked with some decency. I've tried to migrate away from most products by them.
Despite the fact that the post will most likely be modded down I do have to say that I got a kick out of that one. I can say that this is one tune that I won't mind having stuck in my head for a while. I did find the article interesting. Although, I find some things about a little irritating. I guess it may be the difference between a wannabe geek and real geek in writing and interpretation of what a true geek is.
Yeah, I would have to agree on Halflife. I'll have to check out the Counter-Strike mod. Or maybe try to play Halflife on a level other than the easiest one. What can I say I suck at games.
I remember seeing something about nano tech on Disc or TLC a while back. The showed how they can line up atoms and stuff, really interesting. The even showed a working model of some gears turning where each cog on the gears were made up of a bunch of atoms of whatever stuff. Really cool.
I don't neccessarily think of this merger as a bad thing, yet. We'll have to see. I read through tons of these comments and mostly every one talks about it in terms of what AOL is now going to. What I'm waiting to here is what is TimeWarner going to do. They are obviously in it to gain something also. I see it as now TimeWarner now has a bigger portal to the interenet populous. Don't forget the other side of the fact. YZ